1. Higher Education and Disability in the United States:
Inclusion through Legislation and Universal Design
Carol Funckes
AHEAD President
University of Arizona

2. The Association on Higher Education and Disability
Mission
AHEAD is the premiere professional association committed to full participation of persons with disabilities in postsecondary education.
Vision:
AHEAD envisions educational and societal environment that value disability and embody equality of opportunity

3. AHEAD Structure Networking Impacting AHEAD Membership State Affiliates
600+ colleges & universities
State
Affiliates
Special Interest Groups
AHEAD Board of Directors & Staff
AHEAD Bylaws, Mission and Vision
Initiatives
Networking
Services & Resources
Impacting
Training, Publications, Consultation, Research

4. Inclusion of Disabled Students
Large Percentage Growth of students with visible disabilities in the 1960s
Large Percentage Growth of students with learning disabilities in the 1990s
: 18%-33%
Why?
Social pressures Legal Responses:
Legislation following WWII-Disabled Veterans
Section 504 Rehabilitation Act
American’s with Disabilities Act
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 had its roots in much earlier legislation, which created rehabilitation programs and services for wounded military veterans circa post-World War I. Section 504 of the 1973 reauthorization of that act simply stated that no recipient of federal funds could legally discriminate on the basis of disability. It would take another four years for Section 504 regulations to be written and implemented. For purposes of access to higher education, the ADA provided little that was new beyond the regulations that were already in place via Section But the ADA granted complainants the right to sue for noncompliance. That newfound right and the publicity with which the ADA was implemented sparked sweeping improvements in physical facilities and reasonable modifications of policies and practices toward more open and available access to disabled students.

5. Disabled Students in Higher Education:
Averages in the United States

6. Americans with Disabilities Act
No otherwise qualified person with a disability in the United States shall, solely by reason of disability, be denied the benefits of, be excluded from participation in, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance
The ADA is a civil rights law intended to provide equal access and opportunity for people with disabilities. It is not intended to afford anyone special privileges. It is intended to eliminate discrimination. This is your starting point when faced with an issue regarding the appropriateness of providing an accommodation: Will the student, without this accommodation, have equal access to the educational program or activity in question?
A civil rights law with specifically
established legal criteria.

7. ADA: Major Components Civil Rights Protection
Non-discrimination legislation
“Otherwise Qualified” requirement
Meets academic/technical standards
No “direct threat”
“Disability” is defined
Sets up requirement for disability documentation
Requires “reasonable accommodations”
The individual must be otherwise qualified. In education this means the individual meets the academic and technical standards for admission or participation. However, if the qualification for attending a specific event, such as a lecture or performance, is having a ticket, then an individual with a disability possessing a ticket is qualified. The individual is not qualified is they are a danger to themselves or others. If you determine a student is not qualified you must prove the requirement is essential and you must apply this standard to all. If you say something is essential you must have a logical and rational basis. You should include necessary experts in assessment of what is “essential”
Medication
Treatment
Coping mechanisms

8. Who is protected by the ADA?
A person with a disability is someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
Physical or mental impairment:
neurological
musculoskeletal
respiratory
cardiovascular
specific learning disability
sensory

9. Who is protected by the ADA?
A person with a disability is someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
Substantially limits:
Unable to perform a major life activity or significantly restricted as to the condition, manner or duration under which it can be performed in comparison with most people.

10. Who is protected by the ADA?
A person with a disability is someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
Major life activity:
walking
seeing
hearing
speaking
learning
working

11. Disability Documentation
Clearly diagnoses the disability
Verifies “substantial limitation”
Considers “mitigating measures”
“Current”: varies with condition
Reports the impact of the disability
“functional limitation”
Describes the stability/prognosis of the condition
Includes summary of previous accommodations
Recommends possible accommodations
Documentation serves two primary purposes in postsecondary education:
To establish protection from discrimination: Non-discrimination is an assurance that individuals with disabilities will not be excluded or provided lesser access to programs and activities based on assumptions rooted in stereotype or perception of ability that are not based in fact. Non-discrimination also provides freedom from harassment based on perceptions of disability.
Documentation needed only for protection from discrimination based on disability can be quite brief. A diagnostic statement from an appropriate professional, a past history of recognition as a person with a disability or even self-identification that indicates how others might regard the individual as having a disability could suffice as the basis for protection from discrimination.
AND
To determine the accommodations to which the individual may be entitled Reasonable accommodations include modifications to policy, procedure or practice and the provision of auxiliary aids and services that are designed to provide equal access to programs and services for qualified individuals with disabilities. Accommodations are reasonable when they do not fundamentally alter the nature of a program or service and do not represent an undue financial or administrative burden.
Disability documentation for the purpose of providing accommodations must both establish disability and provide adequate information on the functional impact of the disability so that effective accommodations can be identified. In the context of postsecondary education, documentation should provide a decision-maker with a basic understanding of the individual’s disability and enough information to anticipate how the current impact of the disability is expected to interact with the institution’s structure of courses, testing methods, program requirements, etc.
Definitions of Disability

12. Reasonable Accommodations
Modifications or adjustments that allow equal opportunity for participation while maintaining essential components
Must:
Be requested in a timely manner
Be effective
Consider preference of the disabled student
Be appropriately related to the disability
Maintain academic integrity

13. Accommodations are NOT Reasonable if they:
Fundamentally alter the essential components
Present an undue hardship:
Extensive
Substantial
Disruptive
Are of a personal nature
Impose a direct threat to self or others
YES, IF a direct threat to others or self exists.
specific risk must be identified
risk must be current, not speculative or remote
risk must be based on objective, factual evidence
Even if a genuine risk of substantial harm exists, the school must consider whether the risk can be eliminated or reduced below the level of a “direct threat” by reasonable accommodations
Consider the measures the individual is taking on his/her own

14. Common Academic Accommodations
Auxiliary aids and services, may include:
Sign Language Interpreters
Alternative format
Braille, tape, large print, electronic media
Testing modifications
Course substitution
Reasonable accommodations are individually determined.

15. Two Design Models Accessible Design
Instruction and products/buildings that are accessible and usable by people with disabilities
Universal Design
Instruction and products/buildings that are accessible and usable by everyone, including people with disabilities.

16. Accessible Design acknowledges that people with
disabilities have a right to access and use environments, but it requires a modification or accommodation in response to the needs of people with disabilities.
Accessible Design doesn’t acknowledge the social
trends that are changing our societies and institutions of education, and it will never be a completely adequate solution to accessibility.
Accessible Design is often reactive, separate and consumable.
Separate entrance with a ramp
Separate testing facility to adequately assess student learning
Techniques or methods that separate and stigmatize